A trial court, last month, denied the bail to Mr. Kapoor, noting that the allegations against him were of serious and grave nature.
On 16th February 2022, a Mumbai session court granted bail to Rana Kapoor, former CEO and MD of YES Bank, in a money laundering case related to the inappropriate loss of over Rs 300 crore to the bank.
The bail to Mr. Kapoor was granted on certain conditions by a special court under PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act). The court has directed the seizure of his passport, and he cannot leave the country. He must attend court on all the specified fixed dates, and he has also been asked to submit a provisional surety of Rs 5 lakh.
The case in discussion pertains to allegations related to the sale of a property situated on Amrita Shergill Marg in Delhi to a company owned by Bindu Kapoor, Rana Kapoor’s wife.
Last year, a separate FIR was registered regarding this by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Mumbai.
In the case regarding the sale of a property at a prime location in Delhi, businessman Gautam Thapar and seven others were also granted bail. However, Mr. Thapar and Mr. Kapoor will not be released yet as they are in judicial custody in connection with some other cases.
Based on CBI’s FIR, the ED (Enforcement Directorate) had filed a money laundering case against Gautam Thapar, Bindu Kapoor, Rana Kapoor, and seven others.
Appearing for Mr. Kapoor, advocate Vijay Aggarwal argued before the court that the ED had not arrested his client during investigation in the present matter.
And as the probe agency had filed the prosecution complaint without arresting Rana Kapoor, therefore he is entitled to be released on bail in terms of settled law by the Supreme Court of India.
He further argued that the opposing bail by the ED without arresting is equivalent to firing from the shoulder of the judge.
The FIR filed by CBI claims that the former MD and CEO of YES Bank, Rana Kapoor obtained illegal gratification in the form of a property in a prime location at Delhi belonging to Avantha Realty Ltd (ARL) at much less than the market rate. This was done after Thapar’s firm was given concessions in existing credit facilities and a loan by the lender.
The ED has also alleged in its charge sheet that Mr. Kapoor conspired with ARL to wrongfully gain or get a property transferred at a prime location in New Delhi to a firm, Bliss Abode, which is under the ownership of his wife, Bindu Kapoor. In order to get the property, a monthly lease agreement was created by Mr. Kapoor, and by mortgaging the said property to YES bank, he got a loan of Rs 400 crore sanctioned from the bank.
The ED further revealed that by projecting the accounts of the said group of companies as NPA accounts or stressed accounts, the property under discussion was put up for sale by the bank.
Furthermore, when the accounts of the ARL group company were on the verge of turning into NPA, Bliss Abode, beneficially owned by Rana Kapoor, offered Rs 378 crore for acquiring the said property, which was valued at Rs 550 crore.
Edited By: Amisha Rampal
Published By: K. Bindhiya Prarthana
